Open Up The Skies
by Nina of the Galaxy
Summary: Laurel wakes up in another universe tended to be Diana and in that universe because of Dr. Fate. But she has to go back to Earth One to try and save her city. Eventual Lauriver ending.
1. Healing

Laurel opened her eyes and gasped as she looked around.

"She's awake," Someone said as they rushed over. "Hey, take it easy," They cooed.

Laurel shook her head, "Where am I?" She asked.

They laughed. Yeah, this was a side effect of what they had done. "Just take it easy, sit up. And we'll tell you," The woman told her in a soothing voice.

Others came into the room. Faces that she recognized, but couldn't quite put memories too. Maybe she'd seen them in a crowd. She still couldn't gather where she was, but she sat up and felt a pain in her stomach.

She grabbed for it and the woman put her hand over it gently. "From where you were stabbed remember?" She asked.

The memories came flooding back. She died. She was dead. Darhk had stabbed her with an arrow, but she'd been fine. The doctor patched her up. She had to tell them she was okay. "I've got to go," She said as she tried to push herself up and run.

But all that happened was she fell into a heap on the floor.

The woman shook her head. "You have to rest. You have to heal." She ordered in a firmer tone. "We spent a lot of energy keeping you from death. We don't need you running back to it," She told Laurel.

"Who are you?" Laurel asked finally as they picked her up and put her back in the bed.

The woman nodded. "I'm Diana," She said. "But most people, they know me as wonder woman," She smiled a little. "Dr. Fate told us of your grave injustice. And we couldn't let it go on. He brought you to us."

"I died," She said. "Oliver, I saw his face. The last time I saw his face was when I died." She howled.

Diana nodded a little sadly. "We can take you back there. Reunite you with your family, but you have to be careful. Dr. Fate's intervention only comes around once in awhile Dinah," She said. "And you," She caressed the side of Laurel's face. "You are destined to be a legend,"

Laurel shook her head. "I'm not a legend. Rip didn't choose me. He chose Sara. She's the legend in the family," She said as she looked down at her feet.

Wonder woman lifted Laurel's chin. "Your family is full of legends. You are the start of them. You are the biggest legend in your family. You started the tradition of heroes in your family, don't you forget that," She said.

There was a look of defiance in Wonder Woman. Yeah, okay, maybe she did start the hero business in her family. Maybe not directly, but she certainly allowed her sister to flourish which helped her flourish which would help future generations.

She nodded. "I need to get back," She said.

"First, rest," Wonder Woman said. "You have plenty of time," She promised.

Laurel nodded. She then thought of the thing that landed her in the care of Wonder Woman in the first place. Darhk. "Diana?" She asked.

Wonder Woman stopped in her tracks in the middle of the doorway and turned around. "Hmm?" She asked.

"Do you have something that I can use against Damien Darhk?" She asked. "Not something to kill him, but something to permanently stop him, so he can be brought to justice?" She asked. "Also while we're at Merlyn. I'd like to see him brought to justice as well."

Diana laughed. There was the fighter spirit of the Black Canary in every universe. She was formidable. This one was no exception. "We'll work something up for both of them," She told Laurel. "Now, rest," She said.

A few weeks went by and Diana's people treated her well. She was getting better. Stronger. She was able to get out of the bed for increasingly longer periods of the day, until she was able to go a whole day before she had to rest. "You seem restless," Diana noted.

"Just missing home," She told Diana.

Diana nodded. "Well, we'll get you there, but first, I want you to see something that might make you feel better," She told Laurel.

Laurel, intrigued, followed Diana to a training room where she saw her picture hanging on the wall. Except it wasn't her, but a version of her. And then another. And another. "These are me?" She asked as she looked at all of them.

"Just a couple of versions of you. From the different universes." Diana said happily. "Punk rock you is from Earth 12. Police force you is Earth 7. Flower you is Earth 5. And we're gonna have to put lawyer you up there too. Earth 1. All of them could kick so many asses." She said looking at the mural. "And love so fiercely."

Laurel didn't know what to say. Her legacy. She wasn't used to being a legacy. She wasn't used to being anything. Everyone told her she wouldn't be anything. She would never measure up, but it wasn't true. She could see it. Everyone here told her so much of what a Black Canary had done for them. All of them were shaped by the imprint Black Canary made.

Tears ran down her face. What could you say when everyone was so invested in you?

"We also gave you something special," Diana said as she pressed her hand to the mural, close to flower Laurel. She looked to Laurel and smiled. "You're going to your universe as a metahuman," She told her.

Laurel's brows furrowed together, "Like Barry?" She asked.

Wonder Woman nodded. "You'll have so much power. But first, let's help you control it," She said. "Now scream," She ordered.

Laurel screamed hesitantly and the floor shook. She looked to the floor and back to Diana who nodded to her. Laurel did it again and the rumble became more clear and the lights started to flicker. That was so cool, Laurel thought as she burst into a smile.

Diana looked at her. "Now, aim your scream at that dummy," She pointed at the dummy in front of Laurel. "Make it go down." She told Laurel.

Diana knew that making that dummy go down wasn't easy. She designed it that way. This gym was state of the art. So when Laurel tried the first time, it barely swayed even as the floor rumbled. Laurel did it again, for longer and it wobbled consistently but didn't go down.

She took a breath and tried again. It almost went down. Diana was impressed. The level of decibels that she was reaching, they were incredible. If she hadn't been an amazon, she might have worried for her own biology.

One more try. The fourth time, Laurel actually started to hurt Diana's ears by doing it. And the dummy finally went down. It didn't actually go down, the sonic screech actually made it rip at the seams and so it poofed into a million of pieces of carbon fiber and leather.

"Well, now you know how much you can do," Diana grinned, "But you're going to have be able to do it under pressure," She said. "We'll work on that later, but for now, I'm sure you want to train. Work on your skills." She said.

Laurel nodded. Fighting would be good. It would keep her a little bit sane. It would allow her to avoid Darhk again. Not that he was exactly going to be looking for her like this. Still, having her skills honed would mean never having to worry about an arrow to the gut again.

Diana left and Dr. Fate glowered in the hallway. "We're not seriously sending her back to that timeline," He anguished. "This woman deserves to be revered. She deserves mountains named after her. They can't even keep it together long enough to give her the proper week long memorial she deserves." He said.

"She wants to go back," Diana said. "And as a member of the council, she gets what she wants," She told him.

"But this one is not a member of the council," Dr. Fate reminded her.

Diana shook her head. "Then why don't you go tell her that. Or better yet, let Superman tell her that. Let's see what hell that cry can do when she's in agony," She told him. "You saw her training. Even when she just exerted herself a little bit, she became stronger than any of us could have predicted making her a meta," She said.

"She'll never be able to go home to them," He told her.

Diana shrugged. "What she does once she gets back to her own world is up to her. We don't get to decide that for her, Fate." She said.

"You're breaking all the rules. For what? For One?" He asked.

She nodded. "Without Black Canary, the whole damn world falls apart and into chaos. Do you know how many people she inspires?" She asked. "Too many to count. In every universe, she's too important an asset to be needlessly killed by such a force." She said. "And this one?" She asked him. "This one is special. She has the potential to be the biggest of them all. Maybe because she's from Earth One. Saved the world without thinking about it multiple times. Disbanded the League of Assassins with kindness. Do you know how many wars she stopped because of that? How she changed the course of history?" She said.

"She's the best hope we can give anyone," She told him. "She's going back,"

Dr. Fate didn't like the fact that Diana got so emotionally wound up in the story of Black Canary, but even so, he had to admit that there was a reason he wanted to save her too. "Fine," He glowered. "But make sure she's ready. We can't do this again." He warned her.

She nodded and went back to the lab where they were working on Laurel's gifts. The ones that would stop Damien Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn.

A few more weeks went by and Laurel got stronger and better. Diana could tell she was itching to get back to her world, but she also helped people while she was here. She gave lessons to anyone who wanted them and you could ask her legal advice and she would freely give it.

She would even counsel abuse survivors about how brave they were. She was everything. Batman and Superman couldn't be here, but they would be in awe of her too. She knew it. They would go over all of this footage and see how dedicated to such a cause they could be.

Laurel looked over to Diana and grinned as she taught a class. Diana put a hand on Laurel's shoulder and she stopped. She nodded. "Okay guys, take a break," She said as she looked over to Diana. "Are we ready?" She asked.

"Almost," Diana said. "There's just one thing. To make sure you're ready." She said.

Laurel nodded. "Anything," She told Wonder Woman.

"A simulation to make sure you can control your new powers. Then your gifts," She said. "And finally, back home," She told her young protege. She was so pure.

Laurel nodded more firmly this time. "Of course," She said. "Lead the way," She told Diana.

In the simulation room, there was glass to see how she was doing, that Laurel couldn't see through, but that the council would be able to look on. "Push the difficulty up," Fate said. Diana nodded tersely. They were going to see all that she could do.

"Are you sure?" Powergirl asked with her hand on the lever.

Diana nodded. "She can handle it," She told her companions.

Powergirl knew that Diana never trusted anyone without reason and so she pushed it all the way up. The level that only Batman, Superman, and Diana had ever beaten and even so they'd been together. Black Canary was all alone in there. But Wonder Woman believed in her and so they all would.

Laurel saw an army appear out of nowhere and she shot herself up in the air with her grappling hook and they all looked up, angry. That definitely wasn't good. She looked at the people she was going to aim at and opened her mouth and screamed. Enough to knock a few of them out, but they caught on pretty quickly and put earplugs in.

"So now she can't use her cry," Fate mused. "She's toast. These guys are three times her size," He said.

"Shh," Diana said as she kept her eye on Laurel who regrouped for a second when she saw them put their earbuds in. She couldn't get to them in a normal way, but she could still make the earth shake with her cry and she still had her fight skills.

Still there was probably a hundred of them left. It would take her all night. Whatever, she thought. This was her battle. And she would do it most effectively.

She swung away from where she was perched because they started firing on her with guns. Guns. Guns, she thought. If she could get a gun, she'd be able to incapacitate some of them without having to kill them either. There were plenty of ways to win.

She grinned and Diana grinned too. This was the Black Canary. The one who faced armies. The one who commanded armies. You could see it in her face. She was a leader. She was a born warrior. And as she picked them off a couple at a time, it was slow and methodical and every time they seemed to catch onto her tricks, she started something different.

Eventually, there were only about fifteen left. The strongest and most elite who wouldn't make it very easy for her. This was the true test. Yes, there had been plenty tests, but if she could get to these guys, well then she would show her true capability.

And one by one she picked them off too. She didn't even realize when she was the only one left in the room, heaving in the battlefield where she thought she was.

Fate sighed. There was no mistaking that this was the sign of a true warrior. This woman was a warrior who was also a step ahead of everyone else. Came out of the womb screaming for justice. And had only now ever been given the permission and tools to create such a thing on her world back home.

She would have a tough time. There would be questions. Questions she would not be able to answer, but Fate nodded and stepped into the room with Diana as the battlefield vanished into the air and Laurel looked up to them.

"You did a good job," Diana said. "We're ready now,"

Laurel nodded and stood up, her legs lightly shaking as she followed them out of the room, down to the lab where there were gifts sitting on a table, including her outfit. She was going back to her universe. Back to her Oliver. Back to her sister. Back to everything she knew.

She would finally be able to understand this part of the narrative.

The coming back part. She was always the never leaving part. She was the stay when shit got hard part. She was the grit your teeth and buck up. She was the always surviving part. This part. This, she never got to be.

She took her outfit and smiled. "God, I can't wait to put this back on," She said as she felt a couple of tears attempting to burst out of her eyes.

Fate seemed unamused by all of this. "You're risking a lot going back there, you know," He told her. "So much could be undone by your existence there."

She shrugged. "I can't leave them alone," She told him.

Diana grinned. "And you won't have to," She promised as she took the two other gifts off the table. "This one is for Darhk. It will ensure that his magic is turned off for a very long time and cut him off from HIVE. You will be able to try him without difficulty." She promised.

The other one just looked like a tape and a rather large file. "And this is everything that Malcolm Merlyn has done in your world with hard proof attached to it. You should be able to make the case that Malcolm only be locked in a majorly heavy duty prison. I suspect, you may even be able to convince the population of Star City to make one specifically for him." She told Laurel. "I know how that undertaking of his shook your city."

"It's time," Fate said.

Laurel nodded and changed back into the Black Canary costume, fitting the choker around her neck, even though she didn't need it anymore. It was still nice to have. Cisco made it. He would be ecstatic to hear what happened here.

Maybe he wouldn't even believe it. But he would be hyped to hear that she was a metahuman now. She knew that much.

"Ready?" Diana asked when she peered into the room.

Laurel grinned and took her hand. "Thank you," She said. "For everything."

"One day," Diana said. "You will repay the favor to my Earth One counterpart." She told Laurel. She wasn't supposed to. It was against the rules to tell things like that. But it still felt like it needed to be said.

Laurel nodded to her. "I won't let you down."

"You never have," Diana promised as she kissed Laurel on the forehead. Dr. Fate looked away from the gesture of affection, his way of keeping his distance.

"Are you ready?" He asked her.

Laurel nodded, silently.

He took both her hands and closed his eyes, let her close hers too. They whooshed through all of the potential outcomes, all the universes and worlds that they could have put her on. Ones where she would be respected and people would love her.

She didn't want any of that. She wanted to save this world. Earth One. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing though. When they stopped, she still had her eyes closed and he sighed, almost sad that he would be leaving her here, where he could never save her again.

Diana was stupid for letting her choose to stay here. He apparated away as if he was never there and she opened her eyes.

"Are we-?" She stopped when she did not see him in front of her and didn't feel the touch of his hands. "Thank you," She whispered.

No one talked about the single tear that ran down Fate's face when he heard that. She was just special, they all agreed.

She looks to the skies and sees the smoke billowing from a tall building and she flies from rooftop to rooftop to see what is happening. It is a fire, started by an abusive husband to try and keep his family inside the house. To keep them locked in danger. She throws a scream his way, knocks him unconscious, and let's the family out of the apartment.

She puts him on the fire escape, and hurries away. She doesn't want to have to explain how it happened just yet. She just wants to save them. Wants to put Darhk away. Wants to find Darhk, but in order to do that, she has a couple of people she has to see first.

It doesn't matter, because when she gets there and knocks on the door, she hears the soft voice of a long time friend, "I'm coming," She says. But when the door opens, Barbara, who is now in a wheelchair, beautiful and regal still, is not the only one there.

"Laurel?" The other voice asked.


	2. Reunions

"Laurel?" The other voice asked.

She nodded. God dammit. Of course, he was there. "Yeah, it's me," She told him. "It's me, Oliver." She told him as she let out a couple of tears. She took a step towards him and he shook his head.

He couldn't believe it was her. "You're supposed to be dead. We buried you. We went through that process. How can you be alive?" He asked her.

She thought of all of things that happened over to her, what was for over several months, but for him, what was a couple of days. How could she tell him? How would he even believe her? She shook her head. "I promise I'll tell you, but I can't right now," She told him. "Right now, we have an upperhand on Darhk and I want to make sure it stays that way, so just let me talk to Barbara and when this is all over. I promise," She told him.

He shook his head. This couldn't be any weirder than what they had already been through. This life, he remembered, is not something that you ask questions about. But he just couldn't. He lost so much in his life, losing her was the worst thing he could have possibly lost. It took everything in him not to go back to the island after her.

Like he did with Tommy. He broke her heart when he left after Tommy. She broke him by leaving too early.

He walked out of the doorway and into another room, where he paced around, alone with this thoughts. Barbara looked up to her and nodded her head to the inside. "I don't want to know." She told her friend. "Personally, I'm just glad you're alive." She said.

Laurel laughed. "You really don't want to know?" She asked.

Barbara shook her head. "Nah," She said. "I see enough weird shit inside my computer. If you start telling me how people can come back from the dead, I'm never going to sleep." She told Laurel.

"Sounds like working for the FBI is really making you something else," She told Barbara.

She shrugged. "Well, I suspect that's why you came to me," She told Laurel with a grin. "You want information don't you?" She asked.

Laurel nodded. "You know about Darhk." Laurel told her as they walked into Barbara's home office. The elaborate set up impressed her. State of the art computers with all the latest tech lying about. There was so much stuff. "You've done a good job setting up this place," She said with a smile.

Barbara shrugged. "They pay well," She told Laurel. "So this Darhk person? Am I looking for him?" She asked.

"If you could," Laurel said. "Any patterns he has are gonna be helpful," She told Barbara.

Barbara nodded and clicked her computer to live, scrolled through some programs, put his name, and the information they knew about him into a database and let it go for a second. All of the data whirred past faster than she thought it would.

It wasn't as glamorous as on TV, but it had its perks. Barbara furrowed her brow and looked and sorted through some of the information, binning what would be detrimental to the case and putting the stuff that would be good for them in another location.

The whole process took about an hour and Barbara turned to Laurel and smiled. "A full workup on one Damien Darhk. Scary looking guy. He was at your funeral by the way," She told her. "A lot of bad guys were, but it actually looked like they came to pay their respects. Darhk was there just to be creepy and to make sure your father knew how serious he was."

Laurel grinned a little. "We took down a lot of 'em in my days as a legal aid office," She told her. "You know back when you weren't working for the FBI and I wasn't dead." She told Barbara as she fiddled with her necklace.

Barbara shook her head. "You two are never going to be able to live without each other," She told her friend, chuckling. Laurel's brows knit together, unsure of what that meant. Barbara simply nodded to the necklace. "That. He gave it to the night before you got into college remember?" She asked Laurel. "I don't even think you know that you fiddle with it consciously. It's just a comfort thing. Something that he gave you that's a part of you."

Laurel sighed and looked to the other room where he wore himself out from pacing and now was just sitting in a chair, waiting for them to be finished.

"The last few weeks have been the worst place I've ever seen him in." Barbara confided.

Laurel nodded. She didn't want to die. Didn't want to stay away from him when Diana had told her she needed to get better. All she thought about was him. She couldn't imagine what he felt going through it on the other side.

Well, actually she could. She'd been on that side way too many times. Being the survivor is hard. And being the survivor when there is guilt involved. It can drive you to the edges of your sanity. "I know," She said, not really to Barbara, because all she was doing was looking at him. She forced herself to look away from him and back to her friend. "Thank you for keeping an eye on him." She told her. "You always look out for me."

Barbara grinned and took Laurel's hands in hers. "It's what we do, right?" She asked. "What did Joanna call us? Birds of Prey?"

Laurel laughed a little and nodded. "Yeah. The Birds of Prey," She acknowledged. "She's okay, right?" She asked.

Barbara nodded. "She's hurting a little, but she was able to get on with her life a little bit easier because she has so much work she has to do. She couldn't focus on herself and her grief." She told Laurel. "Maybe not the best way to cope, but certainly a way."

Laurel nodded. It hurt a little to know that Joanna didn't make it to the funeral, but she understood. Joanna and Laurel had been close. She'd gone out on a limb and told her about opportunities when she got sober. The city had given her a job before she had the opportunity to use that knowledge, but they also came together more often.

Not as much with the whole Black Canary thing anymore. She regretted not spending more time with everyone, but it was hard to juggle everything. Her social life was the one thing that slipped more often than anything else.

Barbara rubbed her arm. "How are you going do this whole thing?" She asked. "You know he told the whole world about you?" She asked as she nodded her head toward Oliver. "You can't just do this like you used to."

"After this," She said. "New city. As much as I love this city, I can't be here."

Barbara laughed and Laurel frowned. "You know, truthfully? I don't think you can just leave. You love this city too much. It's always been about this place for you." She said. Laurel and Star went together like Batman and Gotham. She just couldn't think of this place without her.

"How can I stay here?" She asked. "Everyone knows who I am. I can't exactly go around as the Black Canary anymore." She told Barbara.

Barbara understood. Laurel may have found the one thing she loved more than Star City. Being the Black Canary. Which was good, because it would always mean she would help people. "You know, if you decide a new city really is for you, I think I might join you. You could always you a little extra help. And the FBI has offices everywhere," She told Laurel and rubbed her arms. "But go. You have some work to do." She said, excitedly.

Laurel nodded.

"Oh, one more thing." Barbara said and Laurel looked back. "Try again. He wants to try again," She said as she looked at him. "And you guys have it. You always have. That special something." She promised.

She nodded once again. And finally left the office and looked to Oliver. "Come on," She said. "We've got him tracked."

He shook his head, "Why don't you tell me what the hell is going on?" He growled.

"I can't. Not now." She told him. "Just help me finish this. I'm going to give you everything you need for this. I just need you to trust me. You do trust me right?" She asked him as she put a hand on his cheek.

He sighed. How could she ask him that? How could she ask him to trust her? She just came back from the dead. He had to deal with that. How could he have asked her that? He asked her that so many times. She was on the receiving end of this battle so many times. And so many times he only made it harder for her to deal with.

A tear streamed down his face and she only smiled lightly. She swept it away.

He nodded as he put his hand on her cheek. They were always a team. The two of them, now they had similar come back from the dead stories, maybe that was what they needed. "You have to promise to tell me how you did this after we finish this." He told her.

She nodded. "Of course." She told him. "There's nothing I want more, but we're just in a bit of a time crunch." She told him. "We have a very small window of opportunity where we have the upperhand with this file and my being here, but people not knowing I'm here." She told him.

He walked beside her as they went out the front door and he got into the front seat of his car. "Come on," He told her as he started the engine. "It's gotta be easier than hopping rooftops." He promised her.

They rode along in silence to the lair. He couldn't believe that he wasn't her first stop. Everything about his coming home had always been about coming to her. She was always home. He let the drive smooth out his emotions because he clearly wasn't beating people up right now. That would have made him feel much better.

When they got there, she hesitated getting out of the car. She hesitated telling everyone she was really alive. He'd only gone out there because Felicity's system pinged him about a fire and a woman in a black suit.

He hadn't hoped it was her. Couldn't back then. How easy it was to think about it in that way. Back then. Like it wasn't a few hours ago, he thought to himself. He simply wanted to make sure no other copycats were coming out of the woodwork like that Sharpe character. When he looked over the footage from the security cameras and saw her, he couldn't believe it. She was back.

But getting out of the car meant exposing that she was alive to everyone on the team. Exposing that meant that she would have to deal with the fallout of her death and since she'd never experienced it, she didn't know what to do. How would they react? Would they hate her?

She took a deep breath and got out of the car.

And he took her hand and lead her through the dimly lit building, to the elevator, where he looked at her and nodded. She pushed the button and took another deep breath before she got and waited for the descent.

"Oliver," Felicity called, "We had a bank robbery. Thea and Digg are out on it now," She said, before turning around. "Holy shit," She said as her mug shattered on the ground.

"Overwatch, you okay? That didn't sound good?" Thea called into her ear.

Felicity shook her head. "Just fine. Green Arrow is back. But with a guest. Just get back here as soon as you can guys," She told them.

"You sound shaken, Overwatch, seriously, do we need to come back now?" Diggle asked.

Felicity shook her head and wrapped her arms around Laurel. "No. You guys are just gonna wanna see this," She told them with a little bit of a smile. "Finish up and hurry home," She told them, before she took her mic off and her earpiece out. "You're home," She said, through tears.

Laurel nodded. "Sounds like you found your way home too." She told Felicity as she pushed a piece of golden hair back behind Felicity's ear. There was so much to be done, but for now, reveling in this, that wasn't so bad, she thought.

Felicity looked around, this was always going to be home. Yeah, maybe they all found home in the wake of her death. Diggle and Thea were taking it exceptionally hard. Thea's home had always been with Laurel. And Diggle blamed himself for that. Home was no longer safe, but a way to think about all the things he'd done.

Yeah, they were all home. And soon, they'd all be better for it.

Laurel looked between the two of them, not a whole lot of good signs, but she shook her head. She purposefully did not think about what Barbara had said in the office about them. There was too much to do to worry about the romances of the team right now. That included her own.

"So, we should get down to the business of it," Laurel said as she slapped the file down onto the table in front of her. "This is all the information Oracle could give me," She told Felicity. "We have a very small window in the next couple of days to take him down for good."

Felicity shook her head. "But he still has his magic. It's just going to be the same thing as last time," She told Laurel.

Laurel grinned and shook her head.

Felicity looked to Oliver, confused, who shrugged also. In the excitement of tracking Darhk and the emotional fallout of him waiting there at the door for her, she hadn't actually brought it out.

She picked out of her breast pocket, the small item that would be the key to their success. "I was given this by a friend. She assures me that it is specifically tailored to Darhk's weaknesses. To keep him without magic and without his network with HIVE." She told them.

Felicity picked it out of her hands and started looking at all the components. "Interesting," She said. "I never would have thought an electrical wave, actually having the ability to curb magic." She rambled on to herself, a little in awe of the gadgetry.

"And it's nonlethal." She grinned. "So we can take him in. And he can pay for his crimes, the right way," She told them.

Oliver looked at his feet and Felicity did the same.

This woman had been stabbed to death by the man and yet still didn't want his blood spilled needlessly. She thought he deserved to be given basic human rights. They were trying to honor her memory by formulating plans where he could no longer hurt anyone.

"We don't have to do this nonlethally," He told her. "No one would blame you if you wanted to really get justice."

She shook her head. "What you're describing. That's not justice. That's revenge. And while I would more than like revenge. The city needs justice. If I just murder him, I'm no better than he is, am I?" She asked him.

He'd asked himself that questions for years, always came up with a different answer. She seemed so stalwart in her decision that revenge and justice weren't the same thing, he envied that position.

He nodded. "Yeah," He told her. "Yeah, okay, no killing him." He said to her as he walked away from the whole situation.

Laurel looked to Felicity who looked down at her feet. "Okay, that's the second time you guys can't look at me. What happened?" She asked, a little bit angry at the whole thing for a second. She died. How could they be the ones that felt out of sorts.

Felicity looked further into her shoes.

"Come on," Laurel prodded her

Felicity nodded. She sighed. "Just sit down," She said.

Laurel did what she said and looked her in the eye. "Now, tell me," She said. "You guys have been so weird about this whole thing." She told Felicity. "What happened?"

Felicity looked at this place. This place which became such a safe place. This place which had become such a beacon of hope. It was tainted by grief and the rash decisions they wanted to make. "When you died, it became a thing for all of us. Diggle thought he was responsible. I had doubts about where my place would be. I thought if I had been here, maybe you would have still been alive. Thea, well, she didn't get on very well after you left either. And Oliver, he took it the worst of all.

"He felt like it was his fault," She told Laurel. "You know him. He feels like he brought all of this into all our lives. And he's not entirely fair on himself, because you know, your father's deal with Darhk is the thing that got you killed. But he, Diggle, and I, we got to pretty dark places," She told Laurel.

Laurel nodded, finally starting to get it. "How dark?" She asked, narrowing her eyes on Felicity.

Felicity looked down at her feet again. This was going to be hard. She gulped and looked back up at Laurel. "We both wanted to kill Darhk. And Diggle tried to kill Ruve." She said, before looking down at the floor again.

Laurel pursed her lips. Yeah, that was dark. "You've got to be kidding me." She said a little bit flabbergasted.

"We were all in dark places," Felicity reminded her.

Laurel nodded. "How on earth did you think that this is something that I would want? Did you even get me in the entire time you knew me? Why on earth did you think this was an appropriate way to get over my loss?" She asked Felicity. The whole thing seemed like they didn't even get her.

Felicity took Laurel's hand in her own. "Our grief was really dark," She told Laurel. "But you're back now," She said to Laurel who looked at her like she had found something in that thought.

And it was then, that she understood what Barbara said. She nodded. "Well, we have a chance to change it now," She said, with a little bit of a smile. "We have a chance to do it my way." She told them.

Oliver looked over, a little confused, with his eyebrows furrowed. Felicity nodded. He came over, a little skittish, still reeling from everything.

And Laurel did a thing, he did not expect her to when she heard about their plans to kill Darhk. She hugged him. "I'm here," She whispered in his ear. "I'm not leaving," She promised him.

It was the first time all night that Oliver cried. He didn't even notice Felicity had left them alone to have this moment where everything was raw and real. He didn't expect that she would forgive him so quickly. All of the emotions ran out of him like they had when she died. She inspired big things from him. Always had.

In the end, he guessed that wasn't so surprising. He pulled away and looked at her. "How can you be so kind?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I had good people inspire that kindness." She said as she bumped him with her forehead and smiled. "Someone who always saw good in me."

"Hey Ollie, why'd you come back to the base and not come out on the mission with us?" Thea asked as she put her bow away. "This would have been just your kind of deal," She said.

She turned around and everything that she had just said was forgotten about, "Laurel," She said and pushed her brother out of the way, as she wrapped her entire body around the figure, "But how?" She asked, more tears.

"It's very complicated. And I'll tell you when we're done getting Darhk." She promised Thea as she smoothed over some of her hair. She looked over to Diggle. Thea got off of her very quickly, remembering that they were in a room full of other people. While Oliver understood their relationship as familial, he did not understand how deep that bond went. And she had never been quite comfortable discussing it with Felicity or Diggle.

Laurel took Diggle's hand and grinned. "It's not your fault, okay?" She asked him.

"You are being too kind," He told her.

She shook her head. "I'm not." She told him. "You spend weeks in another dimension with people who literally went above and beyond to save you, only to help you get back here, you start to understand how big and complicated the whole thing is." She told him.

He looked at his shoes. He didn't believe it.

"Your trust in your brother wasn't stupid," She told him. "I mean I kind of know how dead sibling relations work. I'm kind of an expert at it. And Sara could have been just as bad. Could have hurt just as many people. People who were just as important to me. One different choice and she could have been Andy." She told him.

He shook his head. "Love doesn't conquer evil." He said like he was mad it wasn't true.

Laurel nodded. "It doesn't, but it doesn't mean that loving your family makes you evil either. Loving my family made me this," She told him. "Loving my family brought me back to them." She told him as she gave him a hug.

He nodded and let a single tear roll down his face. "So how are we gonna do this?" He asked.

"Well," She said, "I'm glad you asked."


	3. Malcolm

"This," Felicity said as she looked at the timeline Laurel presented them with, "Could actually work." She told the group. "We could finish Darhk's reign in Star without having to kill him. It could actually happen," She told them with a little bit of a smile.

Thea nodded. "One question," She asked. "Since Malcolm seems to be the chaotic force in our lives and worked with Darhk before, what's to stop him from doing so again?" She asked.

Laurel grinned wickedly. She hadn't told them about the other tier of her plan. To get Malcolm out of their lives forever. For punishing him for giving her so much pain. For hurting all of the people she loved. She took the file out of her jacket and flung it on the table. "This is from Diana. Another gift in ressurection," She told them, with a little blush.

Thea looked at the file and grinned a little. "This is everything," She told Laurel as she looked up from it. "It's every nasty thing he can be connected to. And it's some pretty real shit. You sure we can do this?" She asked.

Laurel nodded. "Yeah," She told Thea. "I do. I think we can do this. I think you can finally be free of him," She said as she rubbed Thea's arms. "I didn't come back from the dead just to save myself." She told her little sister, her everything in this world. "I came back so I could make a difference. We're gonna make a difference, kid," She told her.

Thea pushed her arms around Laurel's neck and held tight. "I love you so much," She whispered. Laurel nodded. She held Thea in her arms for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality what was just a couple of minutes.

Felicity looked to the two of them and nodded. "So what do we do first?" She asked. "Malcolm or Darhk?" She asked.

"Malcolm," Oliver said, definitively. "So he can't get in the way of the plans again and muck everything up. Besides, with this evidence, we can go through the courts and get him arranged in a high security set up with no option of parole. He'll be out of our hair while a trial goes on," He told them.

Laurel looked impressed with what he just said. She didn't think he knew anything about the law really. She didn't think he paid attention when she talked about remanding dangerous criminals. She didn't ever expect him to hear any of that stuff, because you know, she knew it was boring. It was a very specified interest.

Oliver looked amused at her face. "Yeah, I picked up a few things," He told her with a grin Felicity hadn't seen on his face in a long time. In fact, Laurel was probably the last person to bring that grin to his face.

"Well, that's exactly right," Laurel said as she looked down at the table. "We do the legal battle with Malcolm in the morning and then we start on the plan with Darhk." She told them. "That's the way it goes the smoothest," She told them.

Diggle thought it was a good plan, but couldn't help but see what Felicity saw. This was their mission. It wasn't Diggle's or Felicity's. It was the Queen Lance Family mission. Lance Queen Family Mission. It was a little bit about vengeance, but mostly it was about justice.

It didn't mean that it wasn't important, but it did mean that it could be easy to leave the two of them out, accidently. They never meant to, god knows, that Oliver and Laurel and Thea would compensate and keep them in the loop if either of them said anything, but it was different. It was always going to be different with them.

They were a team yeah, but Oliver, Laurel, and Thea were family and they were really family. There was nothing that they wouldn't do for each other. And that meant coming back to life for each other. Because not even death could keep them apart.

"Okay, so we should regroup tomorrow after Oliver and Quentin serve up papers on Malcolm?" Diggle asked, with a propped up eyebrow. "And he'll just say nothing about any of us? Even though, he knows we've been running around the city for the past four years, he's just gonna be cool sitting in jail?" He asked.

Laurel smiled. "Well, he risks losing the only family he has ratting us out," She told Diggle. "Using Malcolm's father love for the Queens against him will be one last act of revenge. And then once he's convicted no one will believe a word he says,"

Diggle look shocked, incredulous look on his face. "And you think this will work? Just all go according to plan and there's gonna be no hiccups that we didn't forsee?" He asked her. This was crazy. They were taking advice from someone who had been dead. Not only dead, but someone who they had tried to get over.

They weren't doing this for the good of the city anymore. They were doing it for her. Righting old wrongs. Laurel never liked that they let Malcolm survive, that they hadn't given him to the league when they could have. It was the one thing that tested her strength with the no killing.

It wasn't hard to see why Laurel wanted him dead. He hurt everyone, but more than that, what he did was personal to her. He sank the Queen's Gambit. He murdered her sister. He turned her most beloved into a weapon that he could use. He killed his own son. His actions were either directly or indirectly responsible for all of the horrible shit that went on in her life.

Laurel sighed. "I don't know," She said, "But I would rather try and fail with Malcolm than have it be over before it even started," She told him.

He shook his head. This was a bad idea and he knew it. He knew going after Malcolm, that was gonna complicate their lives forever. But still, she had a point. It wasn't like they were talking about anyone. It was Malcolm. He took everything from them.

He nodded. "Okay, well then, we go home, and we start this process tomorrow," He said as he walked out the door.

"Home," She said. It hadn't occurred to her that she didn't exactly have one of those anymore. She was technically dead. Her apartment would have been cleaned out and probably rerented. She couldn't exactly stay in the place where Thea was murdered either.

Thea and Oliver looked at each and looked at the clenching of Laurel's fist. How could she have been so stupid, she thought. She could have been dropped into any time before now, before she was officially declared dead, and she didn't even think to ask about that.

Thea took Laurel's hand. "Hey," She whispered.

Laurel looked to Thea and softened. "Hey, how are you?" She asked as she put a hand on Thea's cheek. God, she never thought she would be able to see this girl again. This girl was good.

"I'm good," Thea chuckled. Always thinking about everyone else. She pushed Laurel's hand open and then pushed some keys into it. Laurel's brows knit together and Thea laughed even more. "The keys to the Pier 4." She told Laurel softly.

Pier 4. God, she hadn't heard about that place in years. It must have been about three. Last time she went there was with Oliver and Tommy when Oliver first got back from the island. They reminsced about the old times. The good times.

But she thought that Malcolm had thought it was silly and sold it away. She didn't even think that he would keep it. "How is this possible?" Her voice cracked. God, Tommy. She should have seen if Diana could bring back Tommy. But that might have been pushing her luck as it was.

Thea shrugged. "As much as he might say he's not a sentimentalist. Tommy and Rebecca loved it. He could never disrespect both of them. One at a time, sure, but not both of them. So that's where Oliver and I are living. And we figured, you might want to make it home too?" She asked.

Laurel wiped away a few tears and nodded eagerly. "But just till we figure everything out. Can't exactly be a dead woman forever," She told Thea.

The three of them left together, as a family, as it should be, Thea thought.

Pier 4 was not the most opulent place in the world, but it was kind of luxurious. Way more than at eighteen she ever thought she would ever live in. Pier 4 was the kind of place that she dreamed of living in when she married, with tons of light, and exposed brick. It was a two bedroom place with a chef's kitchen.

It was the kind of place that Malcolm, Oliver, and Tommy would use to woo people for business deals. When they decided to make business deals and not just be exceedingly good looking playboys.

Now, it had more pictures of Laurel, Thea, Tommy, and Oliver than it ever did of just the Merlyn family. Pictures of beach days and big smiles were all around. Thea went to the kitchen and started cooking something, while she let the other two just roam the halls.

Laurel sagged against Oliver's shoulder. "Yeah," He told her. "It's been awhile."

She nodded a little. "I didn't know I was going to be saved." She told him. "I woke up in another dimension,"

He closed his eyes and let out a little laugh. "Yeah, that's definitely something for a full story after we defeat Darhk." He told her as he took her in his arms and hugged her. "God, I missed you so much," He told her.

She tried not to cry. "I missed you too, Ollie." She promised him.

How did she get so lucky that this man was in her life for so long? How did they get so lucky to find someone who understood the other so completely? She looked at him and smiled. "God, coming back to life, it's not easy," She told him.

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely not the easiest thing in the world." He told her. He ushered her up the stairs and brought her to his bedroom.

She blushed. "I can take the couch. I mean, it's super big," She told him. "Or I can bunk with Thea, it's not a big deal." She insisted.

He shook his head. "Are you scared of sharing a bed with me, Laurel?" He asked.

"What?" Her eyes widened.

He chuckled. She was so easy to rattle. "It's not like we haven't done it before. Sharing a bed. It's not like I'm asking you to go down on me." He told her.

"I don't even have any clothes." She said.

He shook his head again. "Not actually true," He said as he opened one of the big closets in this room. And before her, she saw all of her clothes from her apartment. "Your dad wasn't ready to do it, so Thea and I did it." He said, and now it was him choking up, "Everything you could ever want from your wardrobe." He told her.

"Okay," She said. "But we keep pillows between us. Because we don't need to make this more confusing," She told him as she looked around and smiled. Yeah, they would definitely have a little bit more difficulty navigating this time, because he had all of her stuff, but they would figure it out. And they wouldn't end up banging, she insisted in her mind, that was so blasé. And it sent the wrong message, that she came back for him. Which she definitely didn't.

He nodded. "Why don't you get changed?" He asked. "Thea's probably close to finished with dinner and she's probably wondering why we aren't back yet." He told her.

He left her alone and she looked into the closet and found literally all of her clothes, including the prom dress that she still had in the closet from years ago, back when she and Oliver were prom dates, because he couldn't bear to take anyone else.

Tommy went with them and it was great. She remembered staggering back into the limo and up the stairs as she flumped in the bed. It was perfect. It was good time.

She came out of the closet and went into the other one, where all of his clothes were neatly put away and picked up a clean shirt off the ground. Clean as in had no stains, but he'd worn it recently. It smelled like him. She put it on and relished in the comfort it held and then went back to her own closet and picked some boxer shorts on and put them on too.

When she came down, Thea and Oliver looked at her with a grin.

She laughed a little, nervously, "Do I have something on my face?" She asked.

They shook their heads. "No," Thea said. "It just looks like you belong here. You were what we were missing," She told Laurel. "But eat," She said. "I'm sure it's been awhile,"

Laurel thought about it and it had been awhile. She came right from having a tough simulation fight in another dimension to saving people from a fire. And then there was everything that happened tonight. She knew they would worry about her.

After dinner, they all went upstairs and Thea grinned when she saw Laurel and Oliver go to the same room. "Do you think she'll ever get over it?" He asked.

Laurel shook her head. "We're her psuedo parents." She told him. "I think she's always gonna wish that we were together," She told Oliver.

Tomorrow was gonna be a day that changed their lives. And Laurel would have to sit back and watch it happen, because there was no way that she could let Malcolm have the upperhand and know she was alive.

"You look worried," Oliver said as he pulled the covers back from the bed and slipped in. Laurel pulled back her side and snuggled into he bed too.

She nodded. "I just wish I could be with you when you did this thing with Malcolm." She told him. "I know you can do it though," She told him.

"You would just know exactly what to say no matter what. And with me, there's a chance to fuck it up," He told her. "But trust me, I learned from the best." He said as he kissed her forehead. "It's gonna be fine," He promised her.

She nodded, "I hope so," She said as she closed her eyes.

The next day, Laurel opened her eyes, feeling enveloped and warm, cozy. She looked down and smiled as she saw arms around her. And then she freaked out. She looked over her shoulder and saw Oliver curled around her, sleeping peacefully.

The pillows were all pushed to the side, including several on her side of the bed. Which meant that they both pushed them out of the way. She tried not to freak out. But that wasn't really working. "You were shivering," He told her. "And I didn't want to get out of the bed to get you a blanket."

"You're up?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, and don't worry about this. It doesn't mean anything right?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "I guess I can take your advice and not worry about it too much," She told him.

He grinned. It was a nice thought, but he knew that she would probably freak out about it for awhile. And she would probably have an aneurism about it later. But today was the day that they got to take down Merlyn.

"He's not gonna be in our lives any longer," Oliver said as he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, almost not believing it himself. "How do you feel about that?" He asked.

She shrugged. "It's gonna be weird, you know?" She asked him.

"I know that feeling," He told her. "He's been a constant in our lives. Good or bad, we're actually doing this." He said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

She followed suit. "We're doing this for Tommy. He would want his father to be taken in. And we're giving Thea a freedom that she can't have while he's not being brought to justice," She told him.

Maybe it was the feeling of being with someone who understood what she wanted to do to honor the people she loved the most, because he loved them too, but whatever it was, it certainly took both of them by surprise.

"Didn't mean anything," She told him.

He nodded. "Yeah," He said. "Got swept up in the moment." He promised her.

But he started to wonder if they were just keeping it up, because well, she just got back and that brought back powerful emotions. They were trying to keep the status quo. Because he was with Felicity when she was alive. Her dying words were an affirmation of his love for Felicity.

He certainly didn't want to tell Felicity about letting Laurel in his bed. Or the kiss. Yeah, that complicated matters. And he knew it.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," Laurel said, definitively, getting out of the bed and going down the stairs. Before coming back up and going back to Oliver's room where she saw him with his shirt off, "God dammit," She said.

He blushed. "We've got to stop doing this," He told her. She shook her head. "I came back up for my laptop. You have it, right?" She asked him.

He nodded. "It's in the office downstairs." He told her and she headed back out. Thank god he hadn't taken off his pants. They would have been in real trouble if that had happened.

Thea and Oliver left Laurel in the office with a fresh cup of coffee and showed her where the pot was. "Wish us luck," Thea said.

Laurel gave her the biggest hug. "You don't need luck," She said. "You have all my love," She told her favorite person in the world. "Plus you have all the files," She told them. It should be a piece of cake.

That didn't mean that when they hadn't come home three hours later that she didn't worry. She hadn't heard anything from either of them and the news wasn't exactly helpful.

Where were they? She wondered. She didn't want to call and give them away for whatever reason, she just hoped that nothing had gone wrong. She was reminded of the things that Diggle had said to her last night, about how this all seemed too easy.

"Breaking news," The tv announced. "We have several sources confirming that Malcolm Merlyn has been arrested for his involvement in the Undertaking several years ago. For years, he has been using a different alias, a one Oscar Fowler. He was arrested at his apartment on the edge of the city and has been taken into custody where he awaits a bail hearing." The anchorman announced.

It was the same anchorman who announced when Oliver was alive. She remembered the dread she felt back then. And how that man's same booming voice filled her with a much different emotion now.

She pushed out of her chair and got they keys to the motorcycle that was sitting outside for her, along with her helmet and went down and followed her heart all the way to the cave.

She saw Felicity and Diggle there. They shook their heads. "What's going on?" She asked.

"There's been a little bit of a complication." Diggle said as he sighed. "They took Oliver and Thea in for questioning because of their relationship with Tommy and Merlyn." He said. "They think that Oliver and Thea could have had things to do with all of the nasty stuff Merlyn did. And they don't exactly have airtight alibis for everything they were doing."

Laurel fell into a chair. Fuck.

"This is exactly what I was saying, Laurel," Diggle said. "What are we gonna do?" He asked.

She looked to Felicity, who shrugged, "We do what we always do. We fight for justice," She told them.

"Not to sound like a broken record, but how are you going to do that?" Felicity asked. "You wanted to save your first public appearance to beat Darhk. And that's still the most important thing that we're doing. Thea and Oliver would agree with that." Felicity said.

She sighed. Felicity was right. Thea and Oliver both knew the importance of keeping Darhk out of the city, keeping the city free. "Well, then, you're gonna have to find a lawyer. And get my father in on this. He needs to know about Malcolm. And he knows they weren't involved. He might be able to help us."

Felicity looked to Diggle and they both looked to Laurel. "Your father hasn't talked to us in weeks." They told her.

"Well, try again and mention my connection with Thea." She told them. "We need to finish this. This is still part of the plan to defeat Darhk." She told them.


	4. Quentin

"You two," Quentin laughed sarcastically. "How did I know I was going to get a visit from the two of you when the Queens are in jail?" He asked.

Felicity smiled. She knew he was going through a rough time. Sara wasn't there and he didn't know about Laurel. He took it pretty hard. She checked in on him occasionally and he told her he was going to meetings, dedicated to his sobriety, but in truth, she knew he struggled with it.

"Captain Lance," She said. "You know that they're innocent and they're not connected to Malcolm's crimes." She told him. "Can't you do anything to help them?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Why should I?" He asked. "They have to answer for their involvement in everything. We all do. You guys know that. I mean look at Laurel. She had to answer for my involvement," He said as he sat down in his chair, slumped his shoulders. "My stupid involvement," He muttered with his head in his hands.

She nodded. "Captain, Laurel loved them. And you know that she would want justice done. And what the city is doing, what they want to do with them, that's not justice. They just want heads. And if they find out about the vigilante activity, they're going to roast them on a pyre." She told him.

He shook his head. His daughter, he knew that his daughter loved them. He knew that his daughter loved them more than anything in this world. She would go to the ends of the earth to protect the Queens, always had. He sighed. He looked over to the picture on his desk, the one of him and his two girls. "God, I shouldn't have had to bury both of them in my lifetime." He told her.

She looked to Diggle and then back tho him with a sympathetic smile. She wished she could tell him. Felicity knew it would give him so much hope to know that his daughter was back. But she didn't want to tell him. And Laurel had her reasons. She didn't agree with all of those reasons, but they were her reasons. "It's not fair, but you can honor her memory." She said quietly.

Quentin nodded. "She was better than all of us, you know?" He asked.

Felicity grinned and nodded. "Yeah," She said as she combed his hair out of his face. "If she could see you right now, she would be so proud of you."

He shook his head. "I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to talk to the justice department, make someone see some reason," He told her. "You okay with that?" He asked them both.

Diggle nodded. "Whatever you can do, it's gonna be a big help."

Quentin casually nodded. "Yeah, okay," He said. "Now get out of here. It can't look like I'm purposefully doing this. It needs to look like I came to this on my own," He told them as he shooed them out of his office.

They left and Felicity smiled. "Well, that wasn't a total waste, huh?" She asked Diggle.

"No," He had to admit that she was pretty good at the whole negotiating with a party that didn't want to be negotiated with. "But you know, that he's going to flip when he figures out that we've kept him out of the loop about Laurel."

She shrugged. "We didn't technically leave him out of the loop because we don't know how this happened," She told him. "She hasn't told us the story,"

He nodded skeptically. "And do you think he's gonna see that way when he hears that his daughter has been in town for basically a week without him knowing?" He asked her.

Felicity fell quiet. Yeah, it didn't seems great lying to him about Laurel when Diggle put it into perspective like that. And she knew how sensitive, he was about lies involving his daughters, but still Laurel had asked. If that meant that Quentin would hate her for keeping Laurel's secret, well then, maybe she would just have to take that.

Laurel's revival was huge. She knew it was. It broke all science and logic and everything she ever knew, but this whole year was about breaking about everything she ever knew. This was just another component of that.

Quentin's condition had to be considered. He was distraught, had been for weeks after Laurel's death. He seemed to be getting on his feet okay, but it was a slow process. And erupting it all eventually would hard, but it would also be good for him. He would be happy again, even if it would be utter chaos.

Felicity shook her head. "We're doing what Laurel asked," She told him. "We're doing the right thing for now. I mean especially with Dahrk out there, we don't want to get his hopes up." She seemed resolute. "Plus, we don't know if she'll even want to stay here," Felicity said.

Diggle laughed a little. "Yeah, she's really gonna give up living where the Queens are," He told her. "They'll all live together until they all fall permadead." He told her.

Felicity looked over at him and grinned a little, "Am I hearing a little bit of jealousy?" She asked him, incredulously.

He shrugged. "I just can't get over it." He told her. "The happiest and most proactive we've seen Oliver in weeks is when Laurel comes back. I mean he was actually smiling at the courthouse. I mean when was the last time you saw him smile like that?" He asked her.

She looked down at her feet. "I don't know," She told him, "Probably when I saw him with his kid." Felicity told him.

Diggle nodded. Yeah, there was something about that. "Ever wonder about that? That he can be so in love with family and it's always someone else?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about that. Diggle this is not the time or the place to talk about that." She told him.

When they got out of the station, he looked at her and sighed. "You know, you're gonna have to talk to them about this. I mean you guys were going to get back together, not even a week ago. You guys were thinking about moving back into the loft together again." He told her.

"I know," She growled. "It's just new, okay?" She told him.

Laurel grinned as she saw Felicity come through the door. She hugged her hard. "So what's going on?" She asked.

Felicity nodded. "Quentin is gonna try and get them released. He's talking to the justice department right now. And hopefully, we should have some news soon," She promised. "How are you?" She asked.

Laurel looked around and smiled. She couldn't believe she was back in this place. Yeah, it sucked while they were in jail and she was here at the pier without them, but it was nice. It was nice to feel at home.

"I just want them back," She told Felicity, honestly, "I'll feel a lot better when we can get back out there. And Malcolm deserves to be locked up." She said.

Felicity nodded. She definitely didn't disagree, but it was all a little weird. "You think it's just going to be that easy?" She asked.

Laurel shook her head. "It's never going to be that easy, but we have to start somewhere," She told Felicity. She looked down at her laptop and the background of Tommy, Oliver, Thea, and her. That stupid brunch. They all looked so happy, so long ago.

She shut her laptop. Felicity jumped.

"You're angry." She said, when she realized what all happened. "Why are you angry?" She asked.

Laurel shook her head. It was stupid. She knew why she couldn't be there, but dammit, why couldn't she be there? Why couldn't she help him, move him to the better place that she knew he had to get to? She looked at Felicity and looked back down to the desk. "It's nothing." She told her friend.

Felicity's turn to shake her. "It's not." She said as she put a hand on Laurel's back. "He's better. He's not good. But he's more consistent about seeing me now. Sees me a couple times a week. We talk. About stupid stuff mostly, but we talk." She told Laurel.

Laurel nodded. "So that means," She said, not wanting to finish the thought.

Felicity agreed. She knew. "Yeah. It means that there were times when things weren't so good." She told Laurel. "But he's doing better. And once this is done, he's gonna be even better. So you shouldn't worry so much about him, okay?" She asked.

Laurel shook her head. No. Never. There would never be a day when she wouldn't worry about him. There would never be a time when she didn't care about him. Or her sister. Her sister, out doing her time travel thing. Did she know about her death? How would she?

Did Rip know about her death? Or the weirdness about how she came back? Would he tell Sara? What were they even doing right now? Did she come back?

"You know I can't do that." She told Felicity.

Felicity nodded. "Okay, well, then, let's get this plan to get Darhk out of our city in motion," She told her friend.

"Okay," Laurel said. "Let's get Diggle and let's start this. The important part is to get him surrounded," She said as she pushed her laptop out of the way and nodded.

When they left the office, Felicity went through the front door and directly to the elevator where she got in her car and left. She started with Diggle. It would be best for him to hear about this from her. Because she knew he would take it a little hard.

Laurel got the keys from the bedroom and looked out the window. She saw a million cars with flashes coming their way. They would be coming this way and there was no way for her to hide. This is not how she wanted her unveiling to the world to come.

So she did what anyone would do when you just came back from the dead and another dimension and didn't want your family or friends or even your enemies to know you were back, she hid. In a closet. Till she heard the voices on the other side of the door that opened be drowned out by that door finally closing.

Still, she stayed in there for a couple more minutes before she let out a breath and slowly opened the door. Like opening it slowly would help her if someone who she didn't know was in the room and saw her alive and well, god knows possibly looking for a payout.

When she came out, she saw Thea and Oliver standing there with a grin on their face. "That was definitely a choice," Thea said as she tried to surpress a giggle.

Laurel shrugged. "I panicked." She said. "Felicity just left and I was about to go to the foundry," She blushed a little. "It's stupid,"

Oliver shook his head. "Not stupid." He said. "You didn't know when we were coming back. And you need to do this. You need to get Darhk. Because he is the missing key in letting everyone know about you in the light once again." He told her as he pushed some of her hair behind her ear.

Laurel looked up at him and her whole face lit up a little bit. His did too, Thea noticed. God, these two idiots. She put a hand on his cheek and smiled a little. "I'm glad you're safe. I hadn't thought they'd take you in,"

"Don't worry about it," He said. "Your plan is working brilliantly. And your father's testimony really clinched the deal with the judge about Malcolm. He was a perfect combination of familiarity and experience."

Thea coughed and they both looked over.

She grinned. "Well, I'm glad you two can talk about this, but we still have reporters down there and a need to get to the foundry to work on the other part of this plan." She told them. "So how exactly are we doing that?" She asked.

Laurel looked to Oliver.

Oliver ran his hand over the back of his neck and blushed. "I actually might have a plan for that," He told them.

Getting to the car like this was surprisingly easy. No one really expected Oliver Queen, who recently had a high profile breakup not to have a harem of women around him at all times. He hired several girls to insulate Laurel and Thea and to get them to a limo which would go to the downtown center where his political offices were and of course where all the good shopping was.

He would drop the harem of ladies off and they would have access to $5000 and they would also get exposure in the media. Thea looked to him and shook his head. "If mom could see how you spent Dad's hard earned money," She said and shook her head some more.

He looked to Laurel who simply chuckled. "Well, who knew that eventually your partying days would actually help us get out of trouble instead of into it." She said with a grin.

Oliver liked how she looked at that. "I miss those days with you," He told her. "You were always the best dancer."

Thea shook her head. "No. We're not talking about your grinding days. Besides, you just broke up with Felicity, Oliver. That's weird." She told him and they sat in silence, as the news vans went and flocked to his ladies who would all tell them about Oliver Queen's eccentricities, but also how he was a riot and quite fun to be around.

When they got the foundry, Felicity and Diggle looked up and grinned a little. "You guys are back!" Felicity said with glee.

Oliver nodded and looked down at his shoes. "And we should get to business. Quentin did his job perfectly." He said.

Laurel wasn't quite in the room and Diggle looked around. "So we're not talking about how Quentin doesn't know his daughter is alive?" He asked. "Even though he fell off the wagon and almost tried to kill himself? And we're not telling her that either, because?"

"No," Oliver said. "Because those are things that the Lances need to deal with together. And they should be able to deal with it in their own time. Laurel doesn't want to get her dad's hopes up. And you know what? I agree. He's been through so much," He said. "He's been through more than a father should and Laurel loves him too much just to give herself to him as alive and then to die again. She'd rather he'd never know at all if she dies a second time."

Laurel came into the room and a hush fell.

She laughed a little. "Don't everyone speak up at once." She said.

Diggle rolled his eyes. "What you're doing with your father, it's wrong." He told her. "You saw how keeping Sara's death from him hurt him. How can you do that to him?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Why should I put him in a grave too? Why should I let my mother suffer? My sister? Why should I let my whole family down if I leave again?" She said, a few tears falling. "Look, we had our moments, but my family, that's the one thing I always want to protect. And if I die right after coming back to them, it will only make them hurt more. And I can't be the one that does that to them. To him. Not after all of this time," She told Diggle. "That's why."

Diggle balled his fists and shook his head. "I still don't like it. Lying to family, in our line of work, has never ever done us a lick of good. I mean we all know how you took your sister coming back from the grave when everyone knew and you didn't." He told her.

She shook her head. "It's not a discussion." She said flatly. "You will either respect that or you won't, but I can tell you there's a hell of a lot more hell to pay if you don't respect it, Diggle. It's my family. You know how I feel about it."

He huffed and then looked over to Oliver and Felicity. "What's the plan?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Felicity turned back to her computer and pressed a couple of the buttons to make a display light up so the whole team could see and not crowd around her computer, which was getting to be an impossible task now that there were so many of them.

The display showed a map with a conspiciously placed red dot. "This is where Darhk will be everyday for the next three days at exactly 7:23 pm. He's stays there for exactly six minutes and for those six minutes, he is completely without his magic. This is when he essentially does the reset and updates for his magic as it were." Felicity said.

"Now we know from the last time that we went up against him that without his magic he's basically just an ahole in a suit, which can be beaten pretty easily, however, if he does gain his magic back, it's bad juju magumbo for the rest of us, as evidenced by Laurel's death," She said.

Laurel smiled though and looked to all of them. "If we can sever the magical connection on his side and not on talisman side, there's no more magic for him, not for a long time." She told them with the biggest grin Oliver had ever seen.

And he'd seen some of her most important grins. When she graduated high school. And college. And got into law school. When she told him about getting her job back. About her official year sober chip. All of these accomplishments and they hardly paled in comparison to the idea of being able to take someone on without fatality.

He envied that she could be so big, so right of character that it meant this much to her to save the life of the man who killed her, and grinned a little too.

"Six minutes is a really small window and no one has said exactly how we sever the connection between him and the magic," Thea looked around.

Felicity nodded. "That's where it gets tricky. "We have to basically knock him out, near the point of unconciousness, but he still needs to be awake," She said. "Once he's thorougly weakened by the three of you," Felicity played a simulation of what that would look like with very basic looking 3D bodies, nothing fancy there.

"Then I come in," Laurel said, "With this," She said as she held up the magic blocker. "It's basically a magic censor. All I need to do is get it close enough to his body with the least amount of magic in it possible, while he's still and it can worm its way inside of him. And then he can stand trial for what he's done," She told them.

Thea grinned. "That," She said. "Actually sounds perfect. And really fucking cool,"

Laurel nodded. It was coming together. Her life was almost about to be reinstated and she could do all of those things she promised Diana that she would.

Felicity coughed a little. "Okay, so you guys have a little time before you have to suit up, why don't you just relax a little?" She asked. "This isn't going to be an easy task. And we shouldn't treat it like it's going to be."

Laurel nodded and left the room. Diggle walked the other way. Oliver stood in the middle and looked to where Laurel was going. He wanted to be so casual and cool, Felicity could tell, but he was never going to be that guy.

When he looked at Laurel, he was always going to be the guy who saw her first and finally plucked up enough courage to ask her out. "You should go to her, you know," Felicity told him.

"Who? Laurel? No, she just wants to be friends," He said as he blushed a little. He pushed a nonexistant pebble with his toe and combed his fingers through the hairs on his neck.

Felicity shook her head. "No, she doesn't. She loves you. But she thinks that something happened between us. And you should just tell her that it's always gonna be her. No one else is gonna compare." She smiled.

"You say that like we're written in the stars," Oliver said, a nervous chuckle as he dared not to think about that.

Felicity shrugged. "Not all couples are, but you two?" She asked, "Oh, you most certainly are. Besides, it would make Lance happier than he would let you either of you know to have you two together again. If only because you being with her would mean she's alive," She said. "And there's nothing he loves more in this world."


End file.
